SENSITIZATION OF ASTHMATIC-CHILDREN TO COMMON ENVIRONMENTAL ALLERGENSACCORDING TO THEIR RESIDENCE

The medical records of 974 asthmatic children aged 1-14 years (mean 8. 7 +/- 3.9 years) who had been evaluated with skin prick tests (SPT) in two referral Children's Hospitals in Athens from 1975 to 1987 were an alyzed. The children were grouped according to their residence into gr oups from urban area (UR), rural area (RU), and coastals (CO). The. pr evalence of positive SPT and the sensitizing allergens according to th e residential area and the family atopic history were considered. It w as found that 662/974 (68%) children had positive SPT with 63.6%, 70.7 %, and 80.4% in UR, RU, and CO respectively. There was a significant d ifference in the prevalence of positive SPT between UR and CO. A posit ive family atopic history was more often accompanied by positive SPT i n UR only. Sensitization to grass pollens was noted with higher preval ence in UR. The house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus sensiti zation was more prevalent in CO. Our results support the notion that t he environment can influence the prevalence of sensitization to common environmental antigens, the kind of sensitizing allergen, and the exp ressiveness of the genetic factor with regard to development of atopic asthma.